Chainless cycle with pedal levers



A1185 1939. E. WOERNER ZJGSJW CHAINLESS CYCLE WITH PEDAL LEVERS Filed June 10, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 fining. L 1939. E. WOERNER 2,168,110

CHAINLESS CYCLE WITH PEDAL LEVERS Filed June lO, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2' 45 highest position, the other-has not yet reached Patented Aug. 1, 1939 1 2,168,110

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Eugen Woerner, Stuttgart-Feuerbach, Germany Application-June 10, 1938, Serial No. 213,084 .In Germany June 30, 1937 6 Claims. (01. 280-256) This invention relates to a chainless cycle with a larger scale showing only the essential parts of pedal levers, which carryat their front ends the the form of .constructionillustrated in Figure 2; pedals or foot rests, are rotatable on cranks sup- Figures 4, 5 and 6 show by way of example ported at the centre 'of the rear Wheel and prefmodifications of the embodiment represented in 1.5 erab-ly making an angle of 180 degrees with-one Figures 2 and 3, the swinging links being re- 5 another, and are linked by swinging members placed by slot guides of various shapes; and

or slide in guides in such a way that the pedals Figure 7 shows in cross section one form of describe oonohoidal pedalling paths closed in construction of the bearing of the rear end of "themselves. the pedal lever in a slot guide.

10 Such cycle-propelling mechanisms, with guid- In Figures 1, '2 and 3 the pedal levers having 110 *anee-by means of swing members arranged bethe same form and the same dimensions, and 'hind the crank circle, are in themselves known. arranged one on each side of the rear wheel, are In oneof these known constructions, with cranks denoted by 1. They are triangular in shape, at 180 degrees apart, in-the vertical positionof thefront upper side being provided merely for the cranks, that is, when one crank pin is in its thepurpose of stiffening the other two sides of highest and the other in its lowest position, one the triangle. The pedals or foot rests are arpedal is likewise in its highest position and the ranged at the front ends e of the triangles. At other in its lowest. This gives rise to the 'distheir upper extremities b the pedal levers are advantage that the rider may unintentionally pivotally mounted on swinging links g, which 5 back-pedal with the pedal that is in its upperin their turn are supported on pivots a on the most position, and thereby brake the cycle. cycle frame, behind the centre of the rear wheel. This disadvantage occurs particularly when By the third angles 0 the .pedal levers are rothere is a freewheel mechanism in the rear tatably mounted on the crank pins of twocranks wheel, for'then'the forward force which is exertd that are 180 degrees ap t on t e rear ax eed upon the cranks by the rear wheelcontinuing e v d paths h described by the Pedals :5 to revolve, and which would {carry the pedals register with one another, and i denotes the beyond their uppermost point, is absent. Condi- Circular h of the Clank D The W pat s 'tions are similar in another known construction 9 f e i 7h and z are correspondingly of the type hereinbefore mentioned with the dlvldefi m 53 1 to to p t cone cranks180 degrees apart... In this construction giggg g gg fi gffi gi g igg 1 5 if 2: ,Only pedal located on one slde 9 Tear found. k denotes the path of oscillation of the Wheel has already passed beyfmd Its i h swinging links 9, which is an arc of a circle with point when the other reaches its lowest ,point, its convexity forward /whereas P a locafted'on thefitherside only I In the'arrangement described, as shown in Just arrives m Its h t 9 jW Figures 1 to 3, particularly in Figure 3, which is opposite pedal reaches its lowest .pos 1t1on. The on a larger Scale than Figures 1 and 2 and in IlSk of unintentional back-pedallmg is therefore 1.11 which the subdivision of the paths h and i is 1 not Overcome evpfln h consFruc carried further, when either of the pedals has 4 The present invention remedies this by conreached its lowest osition, as shown at oint l m structmg the drive in such a way that at the p p of the edalath in Fi ure 3, the ther ed 1 lowest position -of either of -'the two pedallsgthe p p a 0 p a V has already passed beyond the highest point of other has already passed beyond its h1ghestp0 'its pedal curve, 6a in Figure 3, and is already For when one pedal reached lbs located at the point 1 in the front or descending 1 p portion of the pedal curve. As already stated its lowest position, and can therefore still be above the risk hitherto experienced of m.

"depressed, and Carries first Ipedal reliably tentional back-pedalling is thereby reliably beyond its uppermost P other important obviated, andthe uninterrupted forward moveadvahthges are also Obtalhedment of the bicycle ensured. Furthermore, since so The Invention is illustrated y y offlexample both pedals are in action and are doing useful In e accompanying drawings, in Which work at the same time in the portions 6a to l and ures 1 and 2 are side views of complete 12a to'l (Figure 3) .of the paths of the pedals, h y e owing two embodiments of the inventhe rider's legs relieve one another, thereby tiring tlon with swinging links; him less, and enabling him to continue riding Figure 3 is a more diagrammatic side view on longer. The machine is exceedingly light.

Hill-climbing and head winds can easily be overcome with it. For the same expenditure of effort there is a greater output of useful work than with the crank drive hitherto usual.

That at the lowest position of each pedal the other pedal has already passed beyond its highest point appears to be conditioned by the fact that with the two cranks d in a horizontal position, as in Figure l, or inclined forwards and upwards, as in Figures 2 and 3, the pedal of the pedal lever mounted on the rear crank is located at the lowest point of its path 72, that is to say, in the usual manner, so low down that for traversing curves there is still sufficient clearance from the ground, and that the paths 7c of the pedal-lever links are arranged substantially upright above the crank circle, and in the upper portion are bent rearwards. Owing to this deflection, while one pedal is terminating its downward movement the other is carried beyond its highest point.

If slot guides m are provided instead of swinging links for guiding the pedal levers, as illustrated in Figures 4 to 7, it is no longer absolutely essential that these should be in the form of arcs of circles, as in Figure 4', but it will suffice if the upper portion of the guiding path has an arcuate curvature to the rear, as shown for instance in Figures 5 and 6.

The arrangement of the guiding tracks above the crank circle, that is to say, before, within or behind the centre of the rear wheel, has the result that the weight of the pedal lever the pedal of which has reached the uppermost position helps to facilitate the downward movement of this pedal lever. The employment of slot guides instead of swinging links has the advantageous result that a simpler and more stable and compact structure is obtained, which ensures a more restful position for the cycle, particularly in traversing curves.

Figure 8 shows a pin n, mounted on the end I; of the pedal lever, and resting in the guide m with two ball bearings.

The movement of the crank shaft is transmitted to the rear wheel hub preferably by means of a wheel transmission. In consequence of the advantageous utilisation of effort a greater transmission ratio may be provided than has hitherto been usual.

I claim:

1. A chainless cycle, comprising a frame, a rear wheel rotatably mounted in the frame, a pair of cranks rotatable coaxially with the rear wheel, a pair of pedal levers, each pedal lever being pivotally connected at the rear to one of the cranks, a pair of pedals, each pedal being mounted at the front end of one of the pedal levers, and means for guiding a point on each pedal lever in an approximately vertical path located above the level of the crank circle and bent rearwards in its upper portion, the pedal connected with the crank that is for the time being directed towards the rear being at the lowest point of its path when the said crank is horizontal or slightly inclined downwards.

2. A chainless cycle, comprising a frame, a rear wheel rotatably mounted in the frame, a pair of cranks degrees apart rotatable coaxially with the rear wheel, a pair of pedal levers, each pedal lever being pivotally connected at the rear to one of the cranks, a pair of pedals, each pedal being mounted at the front end of one of the pedal levers, and means for guidin a point on each pedal lever in an approximately vertical path located above the crank circle and curved rearwards in its upper portion, the pedal connected with the crank that is for the time being directed towards the rear being at the lowest point of its path when the said crank is horizontal or slightly inclined downwards.

3. A chainless cycle, comprising a frame, a rear wheel rotatably mounted in the frame, a pair of cranks rotatable coaxially with the rear wheel, a pair of pedal levers, each pedal lever being pivotally connected at the rear to one of the cranks, a pair of pedals, each pedal being mounted at the front end of one of the pedal levers, a pair of links, both pivoted at their rear ends to the frame for oscillation about an approximately horizontal position and each pivoted at the front end to one of the pedal levers, the pedal connected with the crank that is for the time being directed towards the rear being at the lowest point of its path when the said crank is horizontal or slightly inclined downwards, and the guiding links for the pedal levers being arranged substantially vertically above the crank circle in such a position that the upper parts of the paths of the moving ends of the links are inclined rearwards.

4. A chainless cycle, comprising a frame, a rear wheel rotatably mounted in the frame, a pair of cranks rotatable co-axially with the rear wheel, a pair of pedal levers, each pedal lever being a bell-crank lever in the form of a triangular frame pivotally connected by a rear- 'wardly directed angle to one of the cranks, a

pair of pedals, each pedal being mounted on a forwardly directed angle of one of the pedal levers, the third angle of each lever, constituting the fulcrum, being located substantially above the crank circle, and means for positively guid ing this third angle in an approximately vertical curved path.

5. A chainless cycle, comprising a frame, a rear wheel rotatably mounted in the frame, a pair of cranks 180 degrees apart rotatable coaxially with the rear wheel, a pair of bell-crank fulcrum, being located substantially above the level of the angles connected with the cranks and with the pedals, and means for positively guiding this third angle in an approximately vertical curved path.

6. A chainless cycle, comprising a frame, a rear wheel rotatably mounted in the frame, a pair of cranks rotatable co-axially with the rear wheel, a pair of bell-crank pedal levers, each pivotally connected by a rearwardly directed angle to one of the cranks, a pair of pedals, each pedal being mounted on a forwardly directed angle of one of the pedal levers, the third angle of each lever, constituting the fulcrum, being located substantially above the crank circle, and a pair of links, each pivotally connected at its front end to the third angle of one of the pedal levers, and each pivoted by its rear end to the cycle frame for oscillation about an approximately horizontal position.

EI'JGEN WOERNER. 

